Surgical plaster dressing package



R. Y. POWLAN July 16, 1968 SURGICAL PLASTER DRESSING PACKAGE Filed Jan. 19, 1967 F I Er- -4- INVENTOR. 201 K Pan L A/V BY u, AM m,

FIE--3- United States Patent 3,392,826 I SURGICAL PLASTER DRESSING PACKAGE Roy Y. Powlan, 1 Chapel Drive,

' Lafayette, Calif. 94549 Filed Jan. 19, 1967, Ser. No. 610,305

6 Claims. (Cl. 206-47) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to the packaging of surgical plaster bandages used for immobilizing body structures, and it more particularly involves providing a unitary package containing both a sterile plaster dressing and sufficient water to hydrate the plaster of Paris used in connection with the dressing.

Surgical plaster dressings, as commonly used in the field of orthopedic medicine, are made of pre-impregnated plaster of Paris crinoline'cloth. These dressings are normally supplied in one of two forms. Plaster bandages are available in 3-yard lengths and 2", 3", 4", 5", 6" and 8" widths. Plaster splints are also available in 15" by 3 rectangular sheets. The plaster dressings are prepared for use by placing them in water and allowing them to stand until the plaster of Paris impregnated in the surgical dressing becomes sufiiciently hydrated to act as a bonding medium. The dressings are usually squeezed in the hydrating fluid to insure complete hydration before they are applied around themeinber to be immobilized.

In hospitals and under sterile conditions, the chief difficulty encountered with the present technique is a means of disposing of the waste plaster which settles to the bottom of the container used for the hydration. This waste material, if disposed of through an ordinary hospital sink, ultimately results in an accumulation in the sink trap of dried and hardened particles of plaster of Paris which eventually necessitates the removal of the drain trap and/or the replacement of the sink and allied portions of the drain piping. In order to overcome this defect, many hospitals incorporate in their cast room an attachment to their sink commonly known as a plaster trap. These units are expensive and cumbersome and require additional space in the room design for the inclusion of the trap.

It is also obvious that in situations where a hospital and/or hospital facilities are not available, such as in combat areas and remote areas or under emergency conditions, the surgeon, in attempting to place a plaster dressing upon compound fractures, wounds or other seriously injured members, may have difiiculty in obtaining clean or sterile conditions and, particularly, clean or sterile water necessary to hydrate the plaster. Thus the use of the dressing would be precluded or at least would be inadvisable because of the infection hazards in using septic water for hydration.

It is an object of this invention to provide a packaging means which in convenient form contains the necessary amount of sterile water to hydrate the plaster dressing.

A further object of this invention is to provide the means for hydrating said plaster dressings under sterile conditions.

3,392,826 Patented July 16, 1968 A still further object of this invention is to provide a disposable container for disposing of plaster wastes.

Another specific object of this invention is to provide a means-for mounting said containerduring the hydration of the sterile plaster dressing.

, These and other specific objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description:

In the drawings forming a part of this application and in which like parts are identified by like reference numerals t-hroughoutthe same,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of apreferred form of the invention in a package for surgical plaster bandage; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the package shown in FIG. 1 after a tear strip has been pulled to release water into a compartment containing the surgical dressing;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken on lines 3-3 ofFIG. 2, showing the-inner-mounting core or arbor for position ing the bandage within the container; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention that utilizes a sharpened extension of the arbor for piercing the membrane which divides a watercontaining compartment from a compartment containing a plaster-impregnated surgical bandage.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 in particular, there is shown a plastic container 10, preferably fabricated from flexible heat scalable and water-tight material. The container is divided into an upper compartment 11 and a lower compartment 12 by an impermeable membrane 13 that may be ruptured by pulling on tear strip 14. A roll 15 of surgical plaster bandage is contained in lower compartment 12 while a predetermined amount of pure sterile water or hydrating fluid 16 is contained thereabove in compartment 11. Container 10 is provided with a second tear strip 17 which when operated provides access into lower compartment 12, allowing the removal of the surgical plaster bandage.

Roll 15 is supported upon a stand 18 having a core or arbor 19 that positions the roll within the lower compartment. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the plaster bandage 15 is spaced from the walls of the lower compartment 12 and this enables the bandage to be easily removed from its compartment after the tear strip 17 has been employed. It will also be seen that the tear strip 17 includes a portion which extends horizontally above the bottom of the compartment 12 so that the bottom of this compartment remains after the tear strip 17 has been utilized and the bandage removed so as to retain the waste which settles to the bottom of the container. Stand 18 is a flow-through stand and is constructed with vanes 20, 20 that radiate from core 19 and allow water to completely surround and wet the bandage.

The upper end of container 10 is provided with a grommet 21 for supporting the container and its contents during use. Supporting the container with grommet 21 places the water containing compartment 11 above the bandage compartment 12.

In operation, and when the surgical bandage is to be used, opposite walls of container 10 in the region of compartment 12 are brought together, allowing tea-r strip 14 to be grasped from the outside with fingers on the opposite side of the container. The walls of the container are then separated, pulling the tear strip, breaking the imperforate member 13 and allowing the hydrating fluid to gravitate from upper compartment 11 into lower compartment 12. Container 10, and its contents, is then hung by means of grommet 21, and the bandage is allowed to hydrate for the required period of time. The user may also manually squeeze the flexible container and bandage to insure adequate Wetting throughout. When hydration is completed and the bandage is to be applied, tear strip 17 is pulled to open the lower compartment 12 and provide access to bandage roll The bag tentsmay thereafter be disposed of as'a 'unit. I 7

With reference to FIG. 4,:there is shown a second embodiment of the invention wherein container 110 is provided with means for rupturing an impermeable membrane 113 in lieu of tear strip 14. For this purpose a stand 118 having a core member 119, formed with a sharpened extension 120, projects above bandage roll 115. Impermeable membrane 113 may then be ruptured simply by raising the bottorn'of' the container and forcing the sharpened tip 120 through membrane 113. Container 110 is used in essentially the same manner as container 10 described in connection with the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 3.

Although certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the attached claims, and each of such modifications or changes is contemplated. For example, the particular dimensioning of the container to accommodate various sizes of dressings and rolls is contemplated, as well as the packaging of dressings known as splints. More particularly, splint dressings being rectangular in shape, it is contemplated in that a desired number of such splints may be accordion folded and placed in the lower compartment 12 of containers 10 and 110 in lieu of bandage roll 15.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

I claim:

1. A package for storing and hydrating surgical plaster dressing comprising, a water impermeable flexible container sealed at both ends and having a water impermeable membrane dividing said container into upper and lower compartments, means within said container for rupturing said membrane, said upper compartment containing fluid for hydrating a surgical plaster dressing disposed in said lower compartment, a flow-through stand positioned at the bottom of said lower compartment and supporting said plaster dressing within said lower compartment spaced from the walls thereof, and a tear strip having a portion extending horizontally above the bottom and waste con of said lower compartment so that the bottom of said lowe'r'compartment remains to collect waste 'plasterafter said tear strip has been utilized.

2. A package as recited in claim 1 in which said membrane includes a tear strip on the upper surface thereof for rupturing said membrane; v

3. A package as recited in claim 1 in which said'dressing is in the form of a roll and said stand includes an upright arbor centrally positioning saidr'oll and outwardly radiating vanes. g

4. A package as recited in claim 3 in which said arbor comprises means on the upper end thereof for rupturing said membrane. v

5. A package as recited in claim 1 in which said flexible container includes means at the upper end'thereof for hanging said container. 9

6. A package for storing and hydrating surgical plaster dressing comprising, awater impermeable flexible container sealed at both ends and having a water impermeable membrane-diving said container into upper and lower compartments, means within said container for rupturing said membrane, said upper compartment containing fluid for hydrating a surgical plaster dressing disposed in said lower compartment, means for portioning said dressing within said lower compartment to allow water to surround and wet the same, and a tear strip having a portion extending horizontally above the bottom of said lower compartment so that the bottom of said lower compartment remains to collect waste plaster after said tear strip has been utilized.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,351,441 8/1920 Pond 206-632 2,828,858 4/1958 Tooke 20647 2,878,849 3/1959 Lingfelter et a1. -0.5 3,085,681 4/1963 Fazzari 206 47 3,311,032 3/1967 Lucas 229-51 FOREIGN PATENTS 621,977 6/1961 Canada.

WILLIAM T. DIXSON, 1a., Primary Examiner. 

